20, Cease the Drums and Lower the Banners, Lu Lin's New Client

Just as Ma Tianhu was deeply absorbed in planning his work for the coming period, a knock suddenly came at his office door.

Ma Tianhu frowned, about to scold, but then said instead, "Come in."

A professional woman in black stockings walked into the office. "Young Master, Daoba is dead."

"What?"

Ma Tianhu stood up, his expression full of confusion. "Where did this news come from? Give me the details."

After leaving the barbecue joint last night, Ma Tianhu had arranged for Daoba to take four disciples and deal with Lu Lin. No word had come back at all, and Ma Tianhu had simply assumed Daoba was fleeing in the wilds and had no time to report. He never expected this.

"It was the Wu'an Bureau who called. They found the bodies of Daoba and four other martial artists on Anxin Road. Preliminary judgment is a vendetta killing."

"Anxin Road?" Ma Tianhu wasn't familiar with the place. He checked a map and realized—this was a small road near Lu Lin's home.

Could it be... Daoba and his men were killed by Lu Lin?

Heh.

That answer was simply laughable.

Lu Lin was nothing but a jumping clown. What right did he have to kill a mid-level martial artist like Daoba? Wait... could it be Liu, Qinglong?

That old bastard had already planned this. Leaning on the backing of Jiangzuo City's Monster Slaying Martial Arts Hall, he'd long since decided not to cooperate with the Ma Family. It just so happened that yesterday Ma Tianhu ran into Liu Weiran, and Liu, Qinglong must have seen that.

After that, Liu, Qinglong, that old fox, sensed Daoba and his men tailing Lu Lin, so he took the chance to kill them off, leaving Ma Tianhu completely in the dark.

Good one, Liu, Qinglong. He looks like a big, rough, muscle-bound brute, but it's all an act. There's that much filth in his heart.

Killing Daoba and his men was one thing, but he even notified the Wu'an Bureau. An opponent like this—Ma Tianhu couldn't help but give him credit: plenty treacherous.

"Alright, you may go now."

Ma Tianhu waved his hand to dismiss the secretary. Since Liu, Qinglong knew about the matter of dealing with Lu Lin, he definitely shouldn't make a move against Lu Lin for the time being. Fortunately, the kid was just an Advanced Martial Disciple—nothing to worry about.

But Daoba's death did sting a bit. It looked like he'd have to transfer a martial artist from the family, preferably a High-level Martial Artist, or even better, a Low-level Martial Master.

At the same time.

At the headquarters of Liu's Martial Arts School, Liu, Qinglong also received news of Daoba's death and couldn't help clapping in approval.

This Ma Tianhu, young as he was, had quite the skill in handling affairs. He wondered which great hero had cut off this little fox's right-hand man. Truly satisfying.

"Dad, with Daoba dead, is that Ma Tianhu guy still going to force us to cooperate with him? I don't like that guy."

Liu Weiran sat across from him, speaking with some annoyance.

Ma Tianhu hadn't done anything too excessive toward her, but she instinctively disliked him.

"No cooperation. He came to see me this morning, and I've already flatly refused him. Daughter, let's drop this topic. This morning, a young genius came to see me. Want to hear about him?"

"No. Forget it, Dad. I'm going to train. We'll talk tonight."

Liu Weiran made as if to leave, but Liu, Qinglong spoke a name that made her pause.

"Lu Lin."

"What?"

Liu Weiran turned around. "Dad, what did you say? Lu Lin came this morning?"

"That's right. He was looking for you?"

"Of course. Li Jiangtao brought Lu Lin specifically for me to see—a martial arts prodigy. I thought, isn't this the same name as my daughter's sparring partner of two years? Same martial arts school too. Turns out it really was him."

"The kid's a good man. Very spirited, excellent talent. With proper training, after your old dad passes on, maybe he could take over as Hall Master of this school."

"Dad, what are you saying?"

Liu Weiran fidgeted, a flush spreading across her face.

She'd just assumed Lu Lin was waiting at Liu's Martial Arts School headquarters to pester her for the Monster Core. She hadn't expected to misunderstand him. Now her dad was teasing her again—clearly, he'd seen everything that happened at the barbecue stall yesterday.

"Alright, alright. Go on. Train hard."

Liu, Qinglong waved his hand to dismiss his daughter. Only after the door closed did he let out a few quiet chuckles, for reasons unknown.

By the time she drove to the branch, it was already noon. Liu Weiran entered the martial arts school and instinctively walked to the sparring ring she usually used, but there was no sign of Lu Lin.

She stopped a staff member at the door to ask, and learned that Lu Lin had a task—he'd gone to the West City, where a martial artist needed an advanced sparring partner. Liu Weiran had no choice but to give up and train on her own.

At the West City branch of Liu's Martial Arts School.

Lu Lin took out two new Bone Strengthening Ointment patches and stuck them on his waist. This scene happened to be seen by a martial artist walking toward him, who immediately grinned. "Little Lu, I've been hitting you for half a day and your expression didn't even change. I thought you didn't feel pain!"

This was Lu Lin's client, a High-level Martial Artist named Ren Tian.

This guy practiced a fierce, overbearing fist technique. He didn't use weapons, but his strength was far beyond what Lu Lin could currently endure. Every punch that landed on Lu Lin added 2 points of proficiency to his Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield.

In less than an hour of training today, Lu Lin's Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield had already reached the second layer.

[Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield: Second Layer (335/1000)]

"Brother Ren, you think I don't hurt? You're a peak martial artist, about to become a Martial Master. Seeing me suffer like this, how about you throw in a little extra pay later?"

"No way!"

Ren Tian refused flatly. "Looks like you've recovered enough. Come on, let's keep going."

Lu Lin saw the other party refuse and could only stand up to continue sparring.

In truth, for him, although Ren Tian's Punch Force was not insignificant, it was still within a bearable range.

From High-level Martial Artist to Low-level Martial Master, the power gap was enormous—a High-level Martial Artist's required Punch Force was 9,000 kilograms, while a Low-level Martial Master's requirement was 30,000 kilograms.

Ren Tian had only just reached High-level Martial Artist and was preparing to break through to Martial Master.

In the afternoon, after intermittent practice for two hours, Ren Tian looked at Lu Lin lying on the ground, listless and pretending to be pitiful, and chuckled. "Little Lu, you really can take a beating. I'll find you again tomorrow."

As he left the martial arts school, Ren Tian paid an extra 10,000 yuan tip at the front desk. To him, this amount was nothing—he could earn it back by hunting a couple of Monster Beasts. But a sparring partner as excellent as Lu Lin was hard to come by.

This 10,000 yuan tip would not be split with the school; it would go entirely to Lu Lin. When Lu Lin received that cash, he was so excited he nearly burst into tears.

It hadn't been easy—he had finally seen some income. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, he would definitely stand at the entrance of West City Martial Arts School, waiting for the honored guest Ren Tian's arrival.